The needles with the handles are needle felting needles in three different gauges. These can be used to create felt and to add pattern, texture and detail with fleece to my pictures. The sewing needles are used for embroidery and stitching buttons and beads onto my pictures. The coin is a penny so that you can see how small some needles can be.

Good quality scissors are essential for accurate cutting. The tweezers are useful when handling tiny embellishments.

Glue is used to mount my pictures but also secures found items such as shells or feathers.

This has been a whistlestop tour around the things that create the basis of Teeny Tiny Textile Art pictures.

Wednesday, 6 March 2013

A number of my customers have asked about framed Teeny Tiny Textile Art. I do not supply my work framed as it would not be economical as costs would escalate hugely.
However suitable box frames can be purchased here and here and here, and many other suppliers.
First, choose your picture.

Thursday, 17 January 2013

Some of you might have seen a thread on Facebook where people who comment on a status:

I am participating in 2013 Creative
Pay-It-Forward: The first five people to comment on this status will
receive from me, sometime in 2013, a special gift - perhaps a book,
or one of my pictures, or a candle, or music or a small object - a
special surprise just for them. There will likely be no warning and it
will happen whenever the mood strikes me. The catch? Those five people
must make the same offer in their FB status and deliver during
2013....go on, you know you want to :-)

I did this but only a few people commented. Is it because people are too busy? Is it too much trouble?I wonder if it is a symptom of something deeper?

I see, in general, a deepening of suspicion, a tendency to snarkiness, a sense of unkindness. Where there are pressures, those pressures can be manifested in carelessness for the feelings of others.But why...?Kindness costs nothing.

Kindness

1. The act of being friendly, generous and considerate.
2. A kind act.

I am a huge fan of kindness. It is free. It helps to make the world a nicer place.

I think that some think that being kind is weak. That being kind is inappropriate in a business or work relationship.This is not true.

Where people are valued, appreciated and treated considerately, they respond positively. They do not, in my experience, take advantage. If the values above are part of any relationship that relationship will be better for them. If a person in authority espouses those same values, they are not being soft, and need not fear lack of respect. Indeed, lack of respect is much more likely to occur where people are not treated well.

I bought a notebook the other day because it had this on the cover:

If they don't respect, appreciate and value you, then they don't deserve you.

Thursday, 27 December 2012

In November I signed up for Crafty Creatives boxes. The boxes arrive monthly and contain surprise themed crafting materials as well as a kit for making a complete article. My first box was vintage/Christmas inspired. I made these from it adding materials I already had.

We received a bundle of cinnamon sticks. I used some satin and gauze ribbon to tie them up for the tree.

We also got two plastic hoops. I wrapped one in white ribbon and glued gems around it to create sparkle.

This one is wrapped in red ribbon and has silver metal snowflakes from a broken earring suspended in the middle.

The wings on this angel card for a friend were made from icy sequins contained in my my second box themed on frost and snow.
Finally my craft work for Christmas included these items I made as gifts and for my online shop Teeny Tiny Textile Art

These hearts were personalised by embroidering initials and adding bells (from November Crafty Creatives box) for those for my grandchildren.

Friday, 21 December 2012

I thought it might be fun to show you all a story in pictures showing how I go about making one of my pictures.
First, here is my work space.

Next, I choose a piece of felt for my background. Sometimes I know what I want, other times I just look until I get an idea. Today, I knew what I wanted.

Then I get out the resources I think I might need.

Wool

Embroidery thread

Beads

And the tools I use.

I decided to make a picture of a rock pool. So I began by making the rocks by needle felting two colours of rough carded wool.

The two colours of wool on my foam felting pad.

The needle is extremely sharp and barbed, as it is pushed in and pulled out the barbs catch in the fleece tangling the fibres.

The wool becoming matted by the movement of the needle

This is the 'wrong side' of the felted wool showing how the needle drags the fibres through.

Here I have added extra colour.

Now I have made my 'rock' I can start creating my picture.

Natural raw fleece is used for 'sand '.

The fleece is felted into the background.

The elements start being drawn together. The rocks are felted in place and I've used some brown fleece to represent seaweed.

Although I never try to make nature accurate pictures I sometime look in a book to check I have the right sort of colours. Here I checked in a Collins book of the Seashore.

With this guidance I added these to my picture.

Starfish and anemone.

Then I added some further embellishments. Can you spot them?

I added a tiny shell with a pearl. Several clear beads as air bubbles, a striped bead as a sea snail. There are highlights of green fleece and metallic thread too.
I hope you have enjoyed this insight to my work.
This piece, and the others I have made can be seen and purchased at Teeny Tiny Textile Art

Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Wellies on.
Walking pole in hand.
Clump of boots and tick of stick.
Striding out along the path.
Down the hill.
Buzzards wheeling above the trees.
Rooks cawing in protest.
Along the footpath,
squelch and slip.
The mud reveals the
night time visitors to this field.
Deer, badger and fox
trod where I now tread.
Golden leaves hang and shake
as gold coins on a dancing belt.
Here, I see the fieldfares
feasting on nature's berry bounty,
hips, haws, blackberry and rowan,
Trip, trap over the bridge.
No trolls here.
Water taking my path as a short cut.
Along to the spinney marvelling
again at waters power,
where the brook cuts the clay.
The spinney path is still frozen from yesterday's frost,
crystals decorate leaf and blade.
The sun never sees down here.
The brook again,
The water runs into the sinkhole,
disappearing down to the rock below
to appear once more as a spring down along.
Spring Wood covers the hill top,
and I turn away, up the valley side
towards home.